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The Warsaw Anagrams: A Novel Audiobook
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(3.04) - 399 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Evil will flourish even when good men fight it.
In this gripping and deeply moving mystery thriller set in the Warsaw ghetto of 1941, an exhausted and elderly psychiatrist named Erik Cohen makes his way home to the Jewish ghetto after being interned in a Nazi labor camp. Yet only one visionary man—Heniek Corben—can see him and hear him. Heniek soon realizes that Cohen has become an ibbur—a spirit. But how and why has he taken this form?
Cohen recounts his disturbing and moving story to Heniek—a story of how a beloved great nephew vanished and later turned up as a mutilated corpse. Cohen’s investigation into this terrible death uncovers other ghetto children that have met similar fates and that the killer might be a Jew. As the story progresses, Heniek begins to believe that Cohen is not the secular Jew he claims to be but may, in fact, be a student of the mystical Kabbalah. When Heniek traces his suspicions, he comes to an astonishing conclusion, one that has consequences for his own identity and life—and perhaps for the reader’s as well.
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"Dense yet hugely readable historical whodunnit. Set in the Warsaw ghetto during the German occupation, it's obviously going to be a tearjerker, but for all it's deeply emotional, it's not maudlin and the narrative is never dropped in favour of tugging the heartstrings."
— Mausii (4 out of 5 stars)
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“Richard Zimler’s Warsaw Anagrams is a gripping, heartbreaking, and beautiful thriller set in the darkest depths of Nazi barbarity, but also an unforgettable, poetical, and original journey into the mysteries of evil, decency, and the human heart.”
— Simon Sebag Montefiore, New York Times bestselling author of Jerusalem: The Biography and Young Stalin -
“An elderly Jewish psychiatrist investigates his grandnephew’s murder in the Warsaw ghetto amid the horrors of the Holocaust.”
— Los Angeles Times -
“The Warsaw Anagrams is both a fast-moving, very readable mystery novel and a rich, serious book, in which Zimler makes us face the worst and pays tribute to those who died in the Holocaust.”
— Independent (London) -
“Beautifully written, moving, and disturbing, this packs a powerful, emotional punch.”
— Guardian (London) -
“Part murder mystery and part historical fiction, Richard Zimler’s latest novel, The Warsaw Anagrams, renews the impact of the large-scale atrocities committed by the Nazis…A thrilling and solemn story that depicts evil in a realistic way.”
— Boston Globe -
“The highly unusual setting adds tension to the investigation, and Zimler successfully manages to convey the horrors of the Holocaust through the experiences of one family.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“Stefan Rudnicki delivers the first-person narrative in a deep, versatile voice. As the ghost talks about his investigation into the death of a nephew, listeners will feel his many emotions. These are conveyed as he recounts his memories of such events as his last walk with his nephew and their receipt of fresh lemons to fight scurvy. Both gentle and powerful, Rudnicki’s narration captures the terrors of a strange mystery and a frightening era of history.”
— AudioFile -
“Zimler builds a riveting mystery around one of the most horrific moments in Jewish history…Moving back and forth in time, Zimler brings the dailiness of life in the ghetto—both its overwhelming horror and claustrophobia and its moments of startling humanity—to vivid, sometimes unbearable life, all in the context of a nightmare version of the classic locked-room mystery. Gripping and deeply disturbing.”
— Booklist
Awards
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Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
The Warsaw Anagrams Listener Reviews
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" Quit. Too much profanity for my liking. "
— Granny, 2/6/2014 -
" A blurb on the dust jacket of this book compared it to The Shadow of the Wind. I can see the comparison. Both books are essentially shaggy dog mysteries in which the mystery looses its effect in the meandering of the telling. In this case we're in the Warsaw Ghetto rather than Franco's Spain, but the doom and gloom are as palpable. In fact, doom and gloom overwhelm to the extent that fatalism is the prime effect of the novel. There are likable and interesting characters in this book - especially the two alter kockers, amateur sleuths who eventually solve the mystery of the murdered and mutilated ghetto children. But overall, there's not much tension here - there's no race against time, no strong feeling that other children are in danger, and the miasma of fatalism doesn't leave much hope for good endings anyway. There's at least one interesting twist, but by the time it was revealed I can't say as I was much interested. "
— Richard, 2/3/2014 -
" Fantastic book. Helps the reader to understand just a bit what it must have been like in the Jewish Ghetto during WWII. A historical mystery unlike any other I've read. "
— Brian, 1/29/2014 -
" I would liked to have liked this book. The crushing oppression made it a hard read, but the language and homosexuality turned me off, as did the character development. It just wasn't a book for me. "
— Deena, 1/7/2014 -
" Moving and powerful account of the brutality of life in the Warsaw Ghetto "
— Simon, 1/6/2014 -
" Excellent historical mystery set in the Warsaw ghetto and told through the voice of Jewish ibbur Erik Cohen. "
— Janice, 11/21/2013 -
" Emotional, tender and horrific, extremely well written novel but with the harsh reality of knowing that people did suffer in just this way the characters do in this story about Jews living in a ghetto in WWII. "
— Sharon, 2/9/2013 -
" Great book, most likely I will read this one again. "
— Tose, 1/22/2013 -
" Great book -- murder mystery in the Warsaw Ghetto! "
— Cara, 12/15/2012 -
" Thos is a harrowing book and I'm not too sure I liked it. I couldn't stop reading it though and felt satisfied that I had finished it. Not for the faint hearted. "
— Adrienne, 10/5/2012 -
" Weird, surreal ending but an intriguing way of viewing life in this hellish ghetto. "
— Carey, 8/4/2012 -
" It started well, but I rather lost interest and found the last third to be a bit formulaic and twee. It was rather mystery by numbers. And the anagrams were hardly a puzzle! "
— Cheryl, 1/21/2012 -
" A moving story of life, death and murder in the Warsaw ghetto "
— Jack, 12/4/2011 -
" Great book -- murder mystery in the Warsaw Ghetto! "
— Cara, 10/4/2011 -
" Excellent historical mystery set in the Warsaw ghetto and told through the voice of Jewish ibbur Erik Cohen. "
— Janice, 10/3/2011 -
" a great mystery that takes place in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi Regime. "
— Keith, 8/15/2011 -
" Fantastic book. Helps the reader to understand just a bit what it must have been like in the Jewish Ghetto during WWII. A historical mystery unlike any other I've read. "
— Brian, 5/26/2011 -
" Emotional, tender and horrific, extremely well written novel but with the harsh reality of knowing that people did suffer in just this way the characters do in this story about Jews living in a ghetto in WWII. "
— Sharon, 3/27/2011 -
" It was a good book, but I don't think the last 40 or so pages were necessary, and catching the killer was a bit of a wimper, which was too far away from the actual ending. "
— Tim, 3/14/2011 -
" Um thriller histórico passado no gueto judaico de Varsóvia, que serve como pretexto para analisar o melhor e o pior que pode existir dentro de cada ser humano. Vai certamente perdurar na minha memória! "
— Babete, 2/20/2011
About Richard Zimler
Richard Zimler is the award-winning author of several novels, including The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon, winner of the Herodotus Award for Best First Historical Novel, and The Warsaw Anagrams, named the 2010 Book of the Year in Portugal by Ler. His novels have appeared on bestseller lists in twelve countries, including the United States, Great Britain, Portugal, Italy, and Australia. He writes reviews for the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle and lives in Porto, Portugal.
About Stefan Rudnicki
Stefan Rudnicki first became involved with audiobooks in 1994. Now a Grammy-winning audiobook producer, he has worked on more than five thousand audiobooks as a narrator, writer, producer, or director. He has narrated more than nine hundred audiobooks. A recipient of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards, he was presented the coveted Audie Award for solo narration in 2005, 2007, and 2014, and was named one of AudioFile’s Golden Voices in 2012.